In 16th Century France, there lived a man who is reported to have been able to see the future through astrology and divination. This man is said to have predicted the coming of Napoleon, Hitler and even the attacks on the World Trade Center, but there are many skeptics of this man’s work. His name was Michel de Nostradamus, and a book has been discovered at the National Library in Rome that could contain his biggest prediction of all, the end of the world.

In The History Channel’s Lost Book of Nostradamus, the secrets of this unsettling new discovery are revealed. There are many who believe this book to be Nostradamus’ final warning of this era’s pending doom. Others, however, are skeptical of the book’s authenticity, not to mention skeptical of Nostradamus’ claims that he could foresee the future in the first place.

There is no denying, however, his eerily accurate predictions connected with Hitler and the twin towers. In a series of passages, Nostradamus referred to a large, bloody war that would be caused by an Austrian taking political power in Germany. Four hundred years before World War II, Nostradamus tried to warn us in advance by giving us the man’s name: “Hister.” He was only one letter off.

There were also these passages that have been linked to the attack on the World Trade Center:

“Under the false guise of faith many saboteurs will be sown…”

This, of course, would be referring to the hijackers. Note these saboteurs are acting under “the false guise of faith.” “New City,” which is mentioned in this next passage linked to the World Trade Center, Nostradamus believed to be the city of the future.

“Earth shaking fires from the World’s Center roar around ‘New City’ is the earth a quiver. Two nobles long shall wage a fruitless war…”

The last part would obviously refer to Iraq or the War on Terrorism.

So here’s the problem. This new discovery coincides with Nostradamus’ statement that his cryptic predictions would make sense in 500 years. This book has remained mysteriously unnoticed until now (500 years later), though it was clearly marked as being by Nostradamus in a logbook of the National Library.

So why now? Was it destined that it only be discovered scant years before the approaching Armageddon, that it could be deciphered before it’s too late? Nostradamus would have conceivably been able to foresee the discovery of the book, and after all, his predictions are meant as warnings. If man had listened to him before, we may not have had a Hitler or the Iraq War.

Now, I’m not going to lay out all the information presented in this documentary, as that would make watching it superfluous. Not to mention, the facts are more convincing coming from scholars and the program does a great job of building the information in a coherent, step-by-step manner. It is, like most History Channel programming, fascinating, so if you’re like me, you won’t be able to change the channel.

Here’s a sneak peak into the lost book:

The new book lays out the final days of this era with haunting pictures of things already come to pass, including the French Revolution, the beheading of Louis XVI, and the numerous attempts on the Popes’ lives, as well the events of the turbulent future. The Vatican had possession of the book years and kept it hidden, as it details the numerous Papal assassination attempts, the events leading to the end of the Catholic Church and ultimately the coming of what would be Nostradamus’ third Anti-Christ (after Napoleon and Hitler).

The story of the end of the world is told in a series of seven images, describing how and when the Armageddon will take place; and it is not far off. But this is not necessarily a bad thing. According to the book, these are events that can be avoided, leading us safely into the next era of mankind.

From here, we need to analyze all political decisions we make as a people, especially with the upcoming presidential election. And not just because some book says so, but because we’re in a bad spot, and the majority of the politicians vying for the presidency openly support yet another war with Iran. Whether Nostradamus saw any of this coming or not, we’ll never know for sure. Perhaps he was just a lucky guesser, but when it comes to the current world strife, there is no denying the need for sudden and drastic change. You don’t need a book to tell you that.

Lost Book of Nostradamus is scheduled to premiere on The History Channel on Sunday, October 28th at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

Jef Burnham is a freelance writer and film reviewer living in Chicago.